AUTOCULT MAGAZINE: BRIAN FERDINAND

photo: Eric Haines

A few years ago, we were walking around the famed Turlock Swap Meet with Max Schaaf and stopped at a booth –– well, it was more like a card table with a TON of vintage drag parts and other goodies crammed around it –– with a guy standing behind it who looked like he’d just crawled out from under an old Valiant with a transmission leak.

Max introduced us to Brian Ferdinand that day and we haven’t been the same since. Brian and Max knew each other from their pro skater careers, but Brian had walked away from the microscope of the skate world. Quit cold-turkey. Asked around about him, and everyone we talked to remembered Brian for his layback grind, but nobody could tell us where he was at the moment. But Max never forgot and told us that Brian had built a bitchin’ Henry J gasser, as well.

We never forgot about Brian, either. And we thought it was an intriguing story: a made guy from the glory days of skateboarding who not only walked away from it, but got into hot rods as opposed to choppers. And not only did Brian get into cars, but his talent, good style and impeccable taste built one of the most righteous Henry J gas coupes we’ve ever come across. Everything about the car is just right. And there’s a rare ’45 Chevy pickup, a phaeton and some other projects in the works behind this thing.

You’ll see more in the premiere issue, but we thought you’d dig Eric Haines’ image of this ’53 J and hearing a little more about Brian. More to come, kids…